Griquas will be without their first-choice second row for Friday’s Currie Cup clash against the Pumas in Nelspruit.
The defending champions have lost captain Albert Liebenberg and fellow lock Malembe Mpofu to injury for their penultimate league-stage match.
Liebenberg suffered a rib injury against the Sharks XV last weekend and is expected to be sidelined for just one match, but Mpofu’s shoulder injury could rule him out for the remainder of the campaign.
Derik Pretorius and Lungi Mbiko will form a new second-row combination, while Lourens Oosthuizen returns to the starting lineup at openside flank.
With Liebenberg unavailable, centre Mbombo Zwelendaba will captain Griquas as they look to secure a home semi-final. A bonus-point victory in Nelspruit would guarantee them that advantage.
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Griquas coach Pieter Bergh admitted the loss of his two locks was a setback.
“Albert is hopefully just a week, while Malembe will be out for a bit longer,” Bergh told OFM Sport. “We’re not quite sure yet, but he’ll probably be out for the rest of the season with a shoulder injury.
“Albert just injured a rib against the Sharks. He’ll hopefully be available again next week [against Boland in Wellington].”
GRIQUAS – 15 Stefan Coetzee, 14 Dylan Maart, 13 Zane Bester, 12 Mnombo Zwelendaba (c), 11 Gurswin Wehr, 10 George Whitehead, 9 Bobby Alexander, 8 Carl Els, 7 Marco de Witt, 6 Lourens Oosthuizen, 5 Derik Pretorius, 4 Lungisa Mbiko, 3 Ig Prinsloo, 2 Tiaan Lange, 1 Leon Lyons.
Bench: 16 Janus Venter, 17 Eddie Davids, 18 Ntobeko Shezi, 19 Carel van der Merwe, 20 Dillon Smith, 21 Jack Hart, 22 Liam Koen, 23 Saku Makata.
Photo: Danie van der Lith/Gallo Images
The post Griquas suffer double lock blow appeared first on SA Rugby magazine.
Griquas will be without their first-choice second row for Friday’s Currie Cup clash against the Pumas in Nelspruit.
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